As deals go, it should be an easy one to do. Pay £16.5million, agree personal terms and get the player. Easy.

Newcastle United know what it would cost to sign Salomon Rondon, who has a release clause in his contract at relegated West Bromwich Albion.

As it stands, Rafa Benitez – who is having to sell to buy in this summer’s transfer market – doesn’t have enough money, though that will change if, as expected, Aleksandar Mitrovic, is sold to Fulham for around £20million. However, the club would not get the full Mitrovic fee up front.

Mitrovic’s future will be resolved when he returns from his holidays, with the 23-year-old having been extra time off following Serbia’s World Cup campaign.

If Mitrovic is sold to Fulham, will Newcastle move for Rondon?

A loan enquiry for Rondon – who has a year left on his contract at The Hawthorns – was this week reportedly rejected out of hand by West Brom.

Salomon Rondon

Rondon, a Venezuela international, would be a club-record signing for United, but will the club’s hierarchy trust Benitez’s judgement?

The player – who scored seven Premier League goals last season – is 29, and Newcastle have been reluctant to spend money on players in their late 20s.

United have already signed two 29-year-olds so far this summer – former loanee Martin Dubravka and free agent Ki Sung-yueng – and there may be a reluctance to bring in a third.

Since Mike Ashley bought Newcastle more than a decade ago, the focus has been on signing players with a re-sale value.

And it’s hard to see Rondon, a hard-working player capable of slotting into Benitez’s system, being worth more money a couple of years from now.

But United need more goals from somewhere, and Benitez has done his homework on Rondon, signed from Zenit St Petersburg three years ago.